The Lives of the Saints
1. THE HOLY APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST MARK
Mark was a traveling companion and helper of the Apostle Peter, who in his first epistle calls him his son — not son according to the flesh but son according to the spirit. When Mark was with Peter in Rome, the faithful entreated him to write for them the salvific teaching of the Lord Jesus, His miracles, and His life. Thus Mark wrote the Holy Gospel, which the Apostle Peter himself also saw and attested as true. By the Apostle Peter, Mark was appointed bishop and sent to Egypt to preach. And so Saint Mark became both the first preacher of the Gospel and the first bishop in Egypt. All of Egypt was weighed down by the thick darkness of paganism, idolatry, sorcery, and wickedness. But with the help of God, Saint Mark succeeded in sowing the seed of Christ's teaching throughout Libya, Ammonicia, and Pentapolis. From Pentapolis he came to Alexandria, whither the Spirit of God led him. In Alexandria he succeeded in establishing the Church of God, in appointing for it a bishop, priests, and deacons, and in firmly establishing all things in the pious faith. Mark confirmed his preaching with great and numerous miracles. When the pagans raised complaints against Mark as the destroyer of their idolatrous faith, and the city governor began to search for Mark, he fled again to Pentapolis, where he continued to strengthen his earlier work. After two years Mark returned again to Alexandria, to the great joy of all the faithful, whose numbers had already greatly multiplied. On this occasion the pagans seized Mark, bound him tightly, and began to drag him over the cobblestones, crying: "Let us drag the ox to the stall!" All wounded and bloodied, they cast him into prison, where first an angel of heaven appeared to him, encouraging and strengthening him; and after that the Lord Jesus Himself appeared to him and said: "Peace to thee, Mark, My Evangelist!" — to which Mark replied: "Peace to Thee also, my Lord Jesus Christ!" The next day the wicked men dragged Mark out of prison and again hauled him through the streets with the same cry: "Let us drag the ox to the stall!" Utterly exhausted and spent, Mark uttered: "Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit!" — and so he breathed his last and departed in soul to the better world. His holy relics were honorably buried by the Christians, and through the ages they have given healings to people from every affliction and every disease.
2. SAINT ANIANUS, SECOND BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA
When Saint Mark stepped from the ship onto dry land in Alexandria, his shoe tore on one foot. Then he saw a cobbler, to whom he gave the shoe for repair. As the cobbler was sewing, he pierced his own left hand with the awl, and blood began to flow, and the cobbler cried out in pain. Then the Apostle of God mixed dust with his own spittle and anointed the wounded hand, and at once the hand became whole. The cobbler marveled at this miracle and invited Mark into his home. Having heard Mark's preaching, Anianus — for that was his name — was baptized, both he and his entire household. Such piety and such zeal did Anianus show in the work of God that Saint Mark ordained him bishop. And this holy man became the second bishop in the Church of Alexandria.
“Peace to thee, Mark, My Evangelist!”
Hymn of Praise
THE HOLY APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST MARK
The Evangelist Mark to Egypt did fly
Like a bee bearing honey. And Egypt did feel
The sweetness of Christ's honey, the sweetness of living teaching,
And the people began to marvel at Christ:
How He became incarnate in His divine care
For the salvation of men, how He humbled Himself,
And how He arose in glory and in power.
"Through thick darkness we have walked until now!"
The Egyptians said: "Now the sun has dawned for us,
Let us rejoice, O people, in this day of light!"
But his wondrous harvest Mark watered with blood,
And because of this the idols all toppled down.
And Egypt was baptized, the land of the pharaohs
Became the field of God, the apostolic Church.
Reflection
Lazy hands the devil quickly puts to work, and industrious hands the angel. In this world of ceaseless motion and ceaseless change, a man whether he wills it or not must be occupied, either with good or with evil activity. A lazy man is in truth not unemployed: he is a diligent worker for the devil. A lazy body and a lazy soul are the most fitting field for the devil's plowing and sowing. Anthony the Great says: "The body must be subdued and wearied by prolonged labor." And Ephraim the Syrian teaches: "Learn to work, so that you will not have to learn to beg!" And all the other Holy Fathers without exception speak of the necessity of labor for the salvation of man's soul. And the example of ceaseless and strenuous labor, both spiritual and bodily, is given to us by the apostles and all the saints. That the sluggard does not lengthen his life on earth by his sloth but rather shortens it, is clearly proven by the longevity of many saints, the greatest laborers among all laborers in the world.
“The body must be subdued and wearied by prolonged labor.”
Contemplation
To contemplate the risen Lord Jesus, namely:
1. How His Resurrection inspires and strengthens us for every good labor, both bodily and spiritual;
2. How His Resurrection illumines our every good labor with the bright hope of the living God, Who counts, measures, and preserves our labors for the Day of Judgment.
Homily
on apostolic industriousness
**Neither did we eat any man's bread for nothing, but wrought with labor and toil, working night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you (2 Thess. 3:8). **
First to fulfill, and then to teach. This rule was followed by all the apostles of God and all the saints. So too the Apostle Paul, before he pronounces the commandment — if any would not work, neither should he eat — declares of himself and of his helpers in preaching that they ate no man's bread for nothing, but by toil and work earned their own bread. Working night and day! Behold true laborers! Behold the honey-bearing bees of Christ! Day-and-night labor — where is there time for sin? Day-and-night labor — where is there room for vice? Day-and-night labor — where can the devil weave a nest of passions? Day-and-night labor — where is there occasion for scandal?
In certain Egyptian and Palestinian monasteries there lived as many as ten thousand monks. And all of them lived by the labor of their own hands: by weaving baskets, hampers, mats, and by other handiwork. Day-and-night labor, and day-and-night prayer. When one monk sold baskets in the city at a higher price than what the abbot had set, he was punished for it. For the ascetics were not concerned with enrichment but only with the barest sustenance and the simplest clothing. In this the ascetics were and remain true followers of the great apostles.
O brethren, let us flee from sloth as from a den of wild beasts. And if we have by some chance fallen into a den of beasts, let us flee quickly from it, before the beasts have completely blocked our way out. The den is the house in which the sluggard idles; and the beasts are the evil spirits, who feel more at home in such a house than beside their own king in Hades. O Lord, wondrous in Thy labor over all Thy creatures, rouse us from sloth and encourage us to day-and-night labor by Thy vigorous Holy Spirit. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.
“Let us flee from sloth as from a den of wild beasts.”